Rat guard



R. MALLU RAT GUARD Sept. s, 1925.

Filed May 4." 1925 wvmroa WITNESSES,

Aid

Robert A TTORNEYS Patented Sept. 8, 1925.

ROBERT MALLU', NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO MALLU SHEET METALWORKS, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

RAT GUVARDT.

' Application filed May 4, 1925. Serial m. 27,890.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT MALLU, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State, ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RatGuards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in rat guards especiallyadapted for use with cables or hawsers employed in tying ships to docks,wharves or the like.

The object-of the invention is to provide a rat guard of this characterin which all bolts, nuts and the like are eliminated and which isadjustable to fit any size of hawser or cable and which may bepositively and securely fastened in the desired position on the cable. v

. Another object is to provide a device of this character which is ofextremely simple and durable construction, reliable in use and easy andcomparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention reside in certain novelfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of parts whichwill be hereinafter more I fully described and particularly'pointed outin the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation, illustrating the preferred embodimentof the inven tion- Figure 2 is a perspective view in transverse sectionon line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View in perspective, illustrating theconstruction of the means for securing the guard in position and forobstructing the central opening of the guard proper; and

Figure 4c is a detail View in section on line H of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings wherein for the sake of illustration is shownthe preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be seen that the ratguard comprises a disk 10 which is preferably constructed of lightweight imperforate sheet metal, galvanized or otherwise treated so as tobe better adapted to withstand the action of the elements. As shown inthe drawings the disk 10 is formed with a central opening 11 an is slitor cut radially from the opening to its periphery at one point in thecircumference of thedisk and the adjacent radial edges 13 and11 whichare thus formed overlap, as shown in Figures 1 and 41. The edges 13 and1 1 are maintained in this overlapping relation by means of a catchdesignated generally at15-and including a keeper 16 carried by the edgelt and overlying'the edge 13 and having an inclined keeper plate 17 (seeFig. 4:). A latch 18 is fixed to, the edge 13 and underlies the keeper16, the latch having an inclined latch plate 19 which coacts with theinclined keeper plate 17 of the keeper 16. It is obvious that while thedisk 10 may be adjusted so as to overlap the edges more or'less theedges 13 and 14: are preventedfrom being disasso- (nated by the'actionof the-inclined latch plate 19 and inclined keeper17. As illustrated inFigure 2, the disk 10 is adapted to be positioned upon a cable or hawserrunning from the ship dock or the like and indicated at C. The cable 0extends through the opening 11 of the disk 10, and means is provided forsecuring the disk to the cable and for obstructing the space between thewall of the opening 11 and the periphery of the cable; This meansprefel-ably comprises a plurality of attaching arms 20 arrangedincircular series around the o-pening'll. The arms QO-are pivotallyconnected, as'at 21,Qt0 attaching plates 22 which "are riveted or 4otherwise secured, as at 23, to the disk 10 and in this manner the arms20 are pivotally connected to the disk 10. The arms 20 and attachingplates 22 and their pivotal connection preferably take the form of ahinge, as shown in the drawings. The outer ends of the arms 20 areformed with eyes 25, the axes of which may be arranged to lie in thesame circle and these eyes receive a flexible element 26 such as a cordor the like, one end of which is knotted, as at 26 so as to fix one endof the flexible element. Then when the flexible element 26 is drawntight, the arms 20 may be made to snugly engage the cable 0, as shown inFigure 2, and when so engaged the free end of the flexible element maybe tied or knotted with the cable Q or with another portion of theflexible element to secure the arms in the position shown. It is to beunderstood that the flexible element 26 may be of suflicient length toprovide for wrapping it around the arms 20 several times if such shouldbe desired. Adjacent the eyes 25 a portion of the metal whichconstitutes the attaching arms 20'is struck inwardly to provide prongs27 which penetrate or tie into the cables O to complete the attachmentof the guard in position. In this manner the arms 20 and associatedelements serve not only to; secure the guard in position but also toeiiectively obstruct thev spa e er pening etween th wal et the Open n 1a d the P iph y th cable 0 th r y P ven in h ate ro Passi through thisspace.

h gua m y be .reeclily pe i ed around the cable and securely maintainedin p t n t e eehreadily adjustable to adapt itself to the various sizesof cables and the disk itself being slit in the manner shown anddescribed is also adjustable. It is noted that when position on thecable orhawser the d k s O I h?/Pfil s m y be seen item ig es l e 2 h; erawin Th ta hing plates. 22 are ri e ed dja ent the en sv te th d el;and, th s hey ha e fu th fun ti n f bra ng-e d. eng he the disk at thepointsfwhere the, greatest str ngt d igidity s r qu r d I a r t'gue d,e. d ha in a en al p ning adapt d te reeei e a ab or h l k a m a ried yt d k, f r securing it in position upon the cable and ine l e pluralitye ri te attaching rm th at hin arm in y s at theireuter ends, a exi leel m n n h eeg a d y aid am ha ng preh dapt d t eeg ge beeab e.

In a et rd, a di k ha ih e ntrel open n adap e to r eei e e e or the likend. eans eer y he d sk, r Se.- e g i in p sit eh pe theee le nd in- Thesecuring means is eluding a plurality of pivoted attaching arms, theattaching arms having eyes at their outer ends, and a flexible elementtrained, through said eyes.

81.. In arat guard, adisk having a central opening and a radial slit,the radial edges ad acent said slit being overlapped, a catch cooperablewith said overlapping edges and 4;, In a rat guard, a disk havingaradial slit, the radial edges formed by said slit being overlapped and acatch cooperable with said overlapping edges includingv a keeper securedto one edge and overlyingthe other, said keeper having an inclinedkeeper plate, and a, latchcarried by the other of said edges andunderlying the keeperand having an inclined latch plate cooperable withthe inclined keeper plate.

5. a rat guard, a disk having a radial slit, the radial edges formed bysaid slit being overlapped and a catch cooperable with said overlappingedges including a, keeper secured to one edge and overlying the other,said keeper having an inclined keeper plate, a latch carried by theother of said edges n underly ng he keepe end having be inclined latchplate cooperable with the ini etl keep r p a e, and e n a the nt r ofthe disk for securing the disk in position .99 a cable 0 th i e- RQBERTMALLU.

